US Health Research Vulnerable To 'Undue Foreign Influence' - GAO

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) US research, especially in the medical fields, may be vulnerable to foreign influence in cases where researchers have financial conflicts of interest, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report.

"US research may be subject to undue foreign influence in cases where a researcher has a foreign conflict of interest," the report said on Thursday. "Federal grant-making agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), can address this threat by implementing conflict of interest policies and requiring the disclosure of information that may indicate potential conflicts."

The GAO found that the NIH's policy focuses on financial conflicts of interest but does not specifically address or define non-financial interests, which may include multiple professional appointments, the report said.

"In the absence of agency-wide policies and definitions on non-financial interests, universities that receive federal grant funding may lack sufficient guidance to identify and manage conflicts appropriately, potentially increasing the risk of undue foreign influence," the report said.

The GAO noted that NIH also required researchers to disclose information such as foreign support for their research as part of grant proposals, and that such information could be used to determine if certain conflicts exist, the report added.